UAE embassy in Latvia to blaze trail for Arab states

DUBAI // The UAE will be the first Arab country to open an embassy in the Baltic region in the next few years, said Latvia’s deputy prime minister, during his first visit to the country on Monday.

Arvils Aseradens, who is also the minister of economy, said the diplomatic mission would be one of many issues to be dealt with by a UAE-Latvian economic committee, expected to be formed in Riga next year.

“Latvia has full intentions of increasing cooperation between the Baltic area and the Gulf,” Mr Aseradens said.

“The purpose of my visit here is the signing of an economic cooperation agreement between Latvia and the UAE with the Ministry of Economy on Sunday.”

He met officials including Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, Sultan Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, Reem Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Cooperation, and Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development.

“I heard a lot about the UAE before and was positively surprised when I arrived,” Mr Aseradens said. “When I saw the developments here I was very surprised.

“Every meeting surprised me with structured approaches, ideas, a vision and I am very happy to be here as I got a lot of impressions for developments for my country.”

He also met James Hogan, chief executive of Etihad Aviation Group, to discuss direct flights between Riga and Abu Dhabi, expected to start at least a year from now.

“We tried it last year and it was successful but it stopped,” Mr Aseradens said. “We’d like to establish it again, it’s five and a half hours, and we got positive feedback from Etihad.”

The Latvian embassy in Abu Dhabi opened two years ago, and the country has 500 of its citizens in the UAE.

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What Super Bowl LIII

Who is playing New England Patriots v Los Angeles Rams

Where Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, United States

When Sunday (start time is 3.30am on Monday UAE time)

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Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy

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Five healthy carbs and how to eat them

Brown rice: consume an amount that fits in the palm of your hand

Non-starchy vegetables, such as broccoli: consume raw or at low temperatures, and don’t reheat

Oatmeal: look out for pure whole oat grains or kernels, which are locally grown and packaged; avoid those that have travelled from afar

Fruit: a medium bowl a day and no more, and never fruit juices

Lentils and lentil pasta: soak these well and cook them at a low temperature; refrain from eating highly processed pasta variants

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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